AH! LS Noise Killer15 Reviews
4.33 of 5
MSRP 50.00Description: The AH! LS Noise Killer is a small parallel-filter which is connected to the terminals on your speaker. In case of biwiring connect to the tweeterterminals. The immediate effect can be described best as "taming" the tweetersection by eliminating the high-frequency ringing, resulting in a smooth and clean reproduction of the musicsignal. The AH! LS Noise Killers are available with bare wire connection, spades and bananas.

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Submitted by
Circleman
a AudioPhile

Date Reviewed: November 4, 2004

Bottom Line:

I ordered these for my Thiel 2.3's which are frequently characterized as being bright and very revealing. I was impressed
with the results. They did smooth out the high frequency edginess without altering the air or dynamics in the music. As a result they did seem to lower the floor noise. I can now listen to recordings that I used to avoid. I would imagine that
many other speakers with a similar tonal balance would benefit as well.You could send alot of money on other components trying to achieve the same taming of high frequencies. Recommended

Price was relatively cheap so I gave them a try. While it did smooth out the highs, it also robbed the sound of air and transparency. I felt that the tradeoff was simply not worth it and have not used them since.

Lesson learned: Address room acoustics and speaker placement FIRST to control sibilance and harshness before trying these. Even though the price is cheap, who needs a pair of these lying around the house collecting dust? These are for sale so let me know if you want them.

Based on everything that I read, I really wanted these suckers. My audio had become progressively brighter and brighter sounding as I added components to my system over time. While I loved the detail, air and timbre of the sound, sometimes the highs just became too much to handle, especially with recordings that had sibilant vocals to start with (like the Eagles 'Hell Freezes Over' CD for instance). Turning down the treble control on my preamp just didn't give me the end results I needed (it sacrificed too much of the sound along with the highest highs). So, from what I had heard, the noise killers seemed like the inexpensive miracle remedy I was looking for. Well, to make a long story short(er), I ordered the suckers, hooked them up and was... not sure. At first I thought, maybe it did sound cleaner, less 'noisy' in the upper range, but then was also somehow lacking in something. Or was there some sort of coloration being added to the sound. And the harsh 'esses' and 'tsss' were still coming through while the upper midrange of the vocals seemed to project right in my face as if certain frequencies were being emphasized. And the music overall was somehow missing the usual liveliness and richness. After extended testing over the next few weeks with the noise killers connected and disconnected, I decided to leave them off permanently, somewhat comforted by the fact that I didn't spend an arm an a leg on them. Maybe they work for some people on their systems, but they don't work for me.

Wow the best 50 bucks I have ever spent on audio. I was ready to sell my triangle Cellius because of treble harshness.Now no way. this has eliminated about 80 percent of my treble problems. They did have a short break-in.but in a few days they worked wonders. some say they in prove the bass as well but I think that its just that you are no longer distracted by the harsh treble and can now hear the bass better. What ever reason and what ever they elininate they do work. If you have loud, harsh bitting, or ringing treble you need to try this product. you may also want to invest in some mattress foam eggcrate and put it beside and on the wall behind the speakers. This made a big inprovement in the sound stage.

I took a chance on these based upon reviews here and elsewhere... They were right, these things work!!! I was amazed! My Paradigm Studio 100's have always been a bit on the bright side (despite nice upstream stuff). This brightness manifested itself as harsh sounding sibilants- s and t's... This made all but the most well recorded CD's sound harsh and irritating. These Noise killers, without any burn in made a remarkable difference! Gone were 95% of the sibilants from all but the brightest sounding recordings... I suspect that some brightness is unavoidable if the recording is bright. The highs are cleaner and clearer without harshness. I have spent more than I care to ever admit to to alleviate this brightness, and I kick myself for not purchasing these many many dollars ago (laughs).... For 50 bucks, this is the best thing I have bought for my system. Give Kevin Deal at Upscale Audio a call, he is a pleasure to work with. If your system is a bit bright or harsh, try these out, they will likely fix the problem without costing $$$